Malý kluk

When else if not on 1st of ‘Listolet’, at night of 31st of October  and 1st of November , the new electro-folk record “Malý kluk“ by the Brno band Listolet is released. On their second album which was announced in the spring by the song Lullaby with a guest Beatou Bocek, Listolet continues experimenting on the edge of folk rock, alternative music and electronic music with alternating autumn pensive mood and ringing choruses.
The theme of the record is captured in the long name of the first song:  V posledním okamžiku předtím, než budu dospělý (At the last moment before I grow up). “It’s a personal fight of dreamers against the cool down, about the search for boyhood secrets in postmodern cities,”  suggests the Listolet member  Tomáš Háček, referring to the concept of the album which is closed by the song “Malý kluk“, loosely connected to the opening song. The atmosphere of the album is enhanced by the illustrated booklet by Pardubice artist and cultural activist Šárka Zahálková.

The band is proud to their roots in Western Carpathians, from the beginning, however, is established in Brno, the Moravian alternative hatchery. Since their promising self-titled debut album in 2012 in which the influence of Zlín folk rock and Brno alternative intersect, the band now moves even further in finding their own way.

Arrangements of twelve new songs on the album are full of colorful detail. Listolet indulges in elaborate sound atmospheres which are interrupted by unexpected twists. The band again confirms the rumors about their tendency to discover new things, they put together folk rock basics with alternative and electronic elements and for strong choruses they are not afraid to reach all the way to indie pop-rock. “In the first place for us there is still a strong song,” Tomáš Háček, the band leader and composer of most songs, says about the Listolet creed.  Unlike the previous album, this album is dominated by the trumpet which has found its place also in the concert version of Listolet. It was recorded by Vojta Pajer and the guest musician Martina Kučera. Electronic elements are balanced by acoustic parts and also other invited guests - Tomáš Jenček plays the cello, Zuzana Resslová the flute or you can hear the voice of already mentioned Polish/Wallachia musician Beata Bocek.

The arrangement leitmotif of the album is crickets’ chirp which – as the creators claim – appears in all the songs. Somewhere it is obvious; somewhere else it can be heard only by attentive listener.  “You can look for it, it is sort of a game for audiophiles,“ laughs Tomáš Háček, “and besides, it is a great percussive sound.“

The album also includes the hit song  Lullaby which was this spring played in radios not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad and it made it into television as well (MTV, ČT, Óčko). On the album “Malý kluk“ the song is first introduced in the full six-minute version. Lullaby is with its English lyrics the only linguistic exception, all other songs are sung in Czech. Listolet is now one of the few local bands that flirt with a genre which is in the West called folktronics while holding on to their native language. 

Listolet’s previous album which was released also by Indies Scope a year ago ends exactly like autumn: with rain. “The new album is, on the other hand, closed by a memory of summer which, after all, every little boy carries within himself,” says Tomáš Háček.